


time·less

by onestrangenovelist



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: M/M, Soulmate AU, Timer!Au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-14
Updated: 2015-10-23
Packaged: 2018-04-09 06:00:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,495
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4336547
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/onestrangenovelist/pseuds/onestrangenovelist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>At fourteen years old, it’s custom to get a TiMER: a device that counts down to the day you are destined to meet your soulmate. At fourteen, Asahi’s TiMER does not start and, three years later, it remains blank.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I'm a sucker for soulmate AUs, I was just sitting down one day and I thought "why hasn't anyone made an asanoya TiMER AU yet" and then before I knew it I started writing it. So here it is.
> 
> This is loosely based on the movie TiMER, but set in a future where the device is more widespread throughout the world (and not just in LA or the States). You don't have to have watched the film to understand this fic, but if you have you might be able to see where I'm going with this haha. I'm kind of excited to write this and, well, I hope those of you that read this will find it enjoyable :>

[0.]

 

The ball comes barreling towards him.

Asahi leans forward, jutting his arms outward. He tracks it so that it will make perfect contact with the skin of his lower forearm, right above his wrists.

One’s unblemished, just the natural tan skin he’s always had since birth. The other wrist is where his TiMER sits, a small piece of plastic with a digital screen. It’s like a stopwatch. There’s one column to display the days, one for the hours, then minutes, and seconds.

Except, instead of numbers, his columns all show dashes. Solid blinking bold lines. Unchanging.

 _Thwap_!

Asahi jolts back in surprise, having been distracted by the sight of his own TiMER that he took his eyes off the ball. It bounces sloppily off his arm and careens into the wall off to left.

“Sorry!” He shouts in response, right as the coach yells "what was that" at him from across the net, Nishinoya following up with an annoyed cry of “Asahi, pay attention” from somewhere behind him.

“Sorry!” He repeats with a bow, embarrassed at making such a mistake for the third time today. “I promise I won’t do it again!”

They have a practice match scheduled for this week. He can’t afford to mess this up for them because of a dumb piece of plastic.

‘Dumb piece of plastic,’ he says again inside his head. If only he actually believed that.

\

In junior high, Asahi remembered looking forward to nothing more than his fourteenth birthday. The day where he’d finally be eligible to get his own TiMER.

His second year was the most exciting leading up to it. All around him, fourteenth birthdays were being hit. Students were coming to class and showing off their countdowns. Some were closer to zero than others, but practically everyone had numbers. Definite solid numbers on their clock, counting down to the day that they’d meet their soulmate. The person they were destined to spend the rest of their life with. Their One.

Watching a meeting happen was always exciting and a cause for celebration. There were few but, when it happened, everyone present would erupt in shouts for the two who shared eye contact, their TiMERs chiming in unison at their destined meeting.

It was rare to have a fast countdown, so Asahi had only ever witnessed two meetings in his second year. Both times he’d clapped with others in congratulations, wondering what his own would look like.

He’d thought about it previously, a passing thought in his young life, before the idea began to surface more and more frequently as he got closer to being of age. It was hard not to think about it, what with his own mother being a Matchmaker.

He’d been lucky enough to be brought along with her on the job at times. They’d go to different homes where he was able to witness the magic of her TiMER installation first hand. There were the boring legal parts, of course, but Asahi remembered clearly the way people’s faces lit up at the sight of their numbers and the joy that followed. Sometimes families would be nice enough to share their own stories of how they timed out while he was there.

Somewhere along the way, at 12 years old, Asahi found himself moved and wanting to meet someone special who would change his life forever.

Which was why, the night of his fourteenth birthday, he could hardly sit still knowing it was finally going to happen. He was going to get a TiMER.

“Asahi,” his mother reprimanded him when he’d shifted yet again on the sofa. She readjusted the implantation tool in her grasp. “You need to hold your wrist completely still for me as I do this, okay? I’d hate to hurt you while doing my job.”

“Sorry.” He tried to apologize, but it came out as a high pitched squeak.

His mother smiled knowingly, shaking her head before briefly meeting the eyes of his father sitting next to him. He heard him chuckle and Asahi blushed a little at this. Both of his parents knew just how much the idea of a soulmate meant to him.

It meant the end of sleepless nights alone. The end of wondering whether he would have someone to share his favorite books. The end of pessimistic thoughts that no one would ever like him enough to stick around. The end of thinking that there wasn’t someone out there he was meant for.

The sting of the device being implanted only made him yelp a little before he sat up in a rush of excitement, eyes glued to the dull screen. It powered on. The titles of the columns appeared and then, right where there should have been numbers, dashes appeared.

Like a broken digital watch.

“Mom?” He had heard, rather than felt himself say, voice trembling and unsure. He did not know what was happening at the time, but he already knew it wasn’t good and was set to go straight into panic mode until his mother calmly spoke up.

“It’s fine,” he remembered her saying. “It happens. Not everyone turns fourteen at the same time, remember? Your One just hasn’t come of age to get one yet.”

“Oh,” Asahi gave a nervous laugh then. He figured then that his clock would start by his third year.

During that time, he made friends with a small group of kids at the back of his class who also had blank TiMERs. The reactions due to their predicament appeared to be torn in two. Half were optimistic and looked excitedly to the day their dashes would disappear. The other half had this snobby, “fuck it” attitude, constantly talking about how they didn’t care about the stupid TiMER. It just told you when you’d meet your soulmate. They had been living without them for years and they could deal without them for more. No big deal, right?

But even Asahi could see through it. Like everyone else, they got this look of utter relief on their face once the faint chime went off, signaling the start of their countdown.

One by one, they all graduated to the world of normality, the world of working TiMERs, until only he and one other boy remained in his third year.

He and Sawamura formed a close friendship over this. Two lonely boys with broken TiMERs, they met up regularly for lunches and study sessions outside of school. Asahi would share his worries about their circumstance from time to time but, where others might share the same sentiment with every day that passed, Sawamura remained hopeful. He was determined not to let it break him and his optimism kept Asahi grounded in a way no one else could.

They started their first year of senior high together and, for the first time in a long time, the worries about his TiMER disappeared in the excitement of joining the volleyball club and meeting new people. It began to shake him less when he would meet classmates who had working TiMERs because Sawamura was always by his side. He too was lost in a sea of people who knew they would find their soulmates, but he still found a way to fully enjoy each moment of every day.

One time Asahi nervously joked during practice, “What if we just ended up never having our countdown start, wouldn’t it be scary? Being twenty something and still alone.”

“Yeah, I think I could live with that.” Sawamura responded, shoes scuffing the polished floor as he leaned back against the wall.

Asahi was taken aback by such an answer, expecting instead for Sawamura to have told him that it was ridiculous, that something like that wouldn’t happen to them. But when he met Sawamura’s eyes, he saw that he was serious. Asahi sat up from his slouch on the floor, stunned. “How. . . can you . . .?”

Sawamura offered him a small smile, “Just because you don’t know when you’ll meet your soulmate doesn’t mean you can’t form some great relationships along the way.”

Asahi took a moment to process that, blinking almost owlishly. It was something that should have been obvious, but wasn’t. Not with the way everyone constantly compared countdowns.

“Now, come on.” Sawamura nudged him with his foot. “I see you trying to get out of your cool down exercises.”

“Daichi. . .”

Eventually, Asahi decided that, if his friend could be brave enough to face a soulmate-less future, then he could do it too. Sawamura was inspirational like that and Asahi had a feeling that it was possible, maybe, as long as he and Sawamura were in it together.

And they were. Until Sawamura met Suga.

Well, technically, Sawamura had already met Suga. They’d both befriended him upon entering senior high school their first year and quickly became a trio that was always found together during volleyball practice.

Suga was an odd one for sure, because he was the only one that Asahi and Sawamura had ever met that didn’t have a TiMER. Upon meeting him, it was one of the first things Asahi had noticed, the blankness of his right wrist.

He must’ve been staring pretty hard because Suga noticed. Laughing, he had brought his hand forward, outstretching it plainly for the both of them to see, “Oh this? Yeah, I know it’s weird I don’t have one, but I’ll be getting one soon! I hope!”

Asahi apologized, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to force you to have to explain yourself!” Which only made Suga laugh even more, Sawamura joining in, but not before further teasing him about how rude it was to stare.

They came to learn the reason Suga didn’t have a TiMER had more to do with personal matters than anything else. Suga came from a huge family, he’d several brothers as well as sisters. However, when his eldest brother before him got his TiMER, it’d destroyed him. His countdown said he wouldn’t meet his One until he was in his fifties. Suga said he made some bad choices as a result, and it made his parents seriously reconsider when it came to getting Suga his own TiMER.

“They’re still on the fence of it,” Suga explained during that first year of knowing him. But he believed that his parents would come around from the scare. He told them that he didn’t mind waiting.

During their first year and into their second, Suga and Sawamura got really close. Asahi was close to Suga sure, but there was an obvious difference of who Suga was closer to. It was obvious in the way that Suga looked at Sawamura when he was talking, a small smile playing across his lips. It was obvious in the way Sawamura’s eyes lit up whenever Suga threw his head back and laughed. Obvious in the way they walked together, their arms brushing when they turned corners, their chins ducking in shyness nearly each time it happened.

Asahi hadn’t meant to say anything about it once he started noticing, but then he and Sawamura were left alone reading in the library once, and it just came out. “Daichi, you really like Suga, huh?”

Sawamura stiffened, his fringe covering his eyes, and Asahi could’ve smacked himself right across the face.

“I, I mean, not that it’s any of my business!” He stuttered out, hand coming to scratch at his neck. “I just couldn’t help noticing, was all--”

Sawamura shifted in his seat then, causing Asahi’s mouth to snap shut. Asahi felt the blood drain from his face as he internally cursed at himself for not shutting up.

But when Sawamura looked up, he was not as upset as Asahi thought he’d be. He just had this troubled frown on his face. “I suppose there’s no hiding it from you of all people.”

‘Well, there’s no hiding it from anyone if you keep looking at Suga the way you do.’ Asahi thought, but did not say in response to that.

Sawamura sighed and sat back, fingertips tapping along the edges of his book. “It doesn’t matter though, Asahi.”

“Why not? You both get along well.” He said in encouragement. “And it’s not like Suga has a TiMER--”

Asahi stopped, realizing his mistake.

Sawamura met his eyes, finishing for him what they both knew, “yet. He doesn’t have one, yet.”

There was a pause before Sawamura continued, “He’s going to get one someday and I can’t start something like that with him when he’s got someone else out there who’s waiting for him. It’s not right.”

‘It’s like cheating.’ Asahi heard the implied conclusion and the conversation ended there because, really, there was no point in arguing with that.

Sawamura’s determination to not do anything, however, put a strain on both he and Suga. The tension was visible in the way Sawamura cut their length of contact, sliding out from under Suga’s arm when it was thrown around his neck. He began to stop the two of them from ever being alone, usually dragging Asahi or one of the first years in between them as a buffer.

When Sawamura began talking to Suga in a more formal manner, Suga lost all patience. It lead to a fight in the clubroom that exploded almost as soon as Asahi closed the door behind him. No fists were thrown but there was plenty of yelling, and while Asahi wasn’t able to hear the whole thing, he did catch parts.

“I’m doing this for you!” Sawamura yelled.

“I didn’t ask for you to do anything for me!” Suga snapped back. “I’m capable of making my own decisions!”

He did not know how that argument between them was resolved that day, but he figured that it did not end on a good note once he met up with Sawamura the next morning. There were circles under his eyes and his face was grim. Asahi did not ask about it, for his sake.

Suga and Sawamura did not talk that week. It was the most miserable week that Asahi could remember having for a long time. He preferred not to have his friends fighting and volleyball practice became more tense than ever since they were both under the same roof.

He did not know if either of them were capable of holding a grudge for a long time and was wondering whether it would be better if he hung out with his classmates for a while, when Sawamura texted him, ‘I think I’m going to apologize to him.’

Asahi texted back immediately, ‘I think that’s a good idea.’

‘And maybe . . . he was right about some things. We argued (I’m sure you heard) and I was mad at him but he had a point. I think. He doesn’t have a TiMER, mine isn’t working. There’s no telling if he’s my One or not. People took chances when dating in the past so why can’t I?’

Asahi bit his lip, wanting to remind Sawamura that the reason for taking those “chances” back then was because they didn’t have TiMERs that would guarantee whether a relationship would work or not.

But Sawamura appeared to have his mind made up and, before Asahi could so much as get a word in, he received the text. ‘I think I’m going to ask him out tomorrow? Back me up?’

‘He must really want this to be thinking about it this way,’ Asahi remembered thinking.

He’d only had enough time to respond with a ‘yes’ before he got a scolding for bringing his phone to the dinner table.

The next day, even if it wasn’t him making these decisions, Asahi was nervous for his friends. A part of him knew that Suga would be receptive if Sawamura asked him out though. He had been open to it for a while now as it was all over his body language. It was just Sawamura who was afraid. Now that Sawamura had appeared to have gathered some courage, it was all a matter of getting them together in the same location.

‘There’ll probably still be some yelling.’ Asahi remembered thinking, ‘since Suga will see Sawamura and think he’ll have appeared to lecture him. But in the end, it’ll work out.’

That was his train of thought until he was eating lunch with Suga on one of the tables outside. ‘He’s quiet today,’ Asahi had noticed, but hadn’t known why until Suga reached over to grab his drink, the sleeve of his uniform riding up just enough for Asahi to catch it. The outline of green, the digital screen displaying unwavering zeroes.

He was barely able to get the words out, “S-suga you-u.”

Suga seemed to have forgotten, or had been trying to ignore it, because it took a moment for him to realize. When he did, he looked down at his wrist, laughing bitterly. “Yeah, can you believe it? Just got mine the other day and I immediately zeroed out at midnight.”

For many people, that’d be great news, but Suga sounded far from happy about it. He yanked the sleeve of his jacket down over it and swallowed hard. “It looks like I’m gonna meet my One today. Whoever they are.”

“Worst timing ever.” The words slipped out as a shocked whisper from Asahi’s mouth before he could think about it.

“Yeah, no kidding.” Suga laughed in agreement, but then had to stop, his voice completely breaking. His hands flew up to cover his glazed eyes in an instant and he fell silent and Asahi knew, even if he’d never seen it before, this was Suga broken-hearted. “Gods, why couldn’t it be blank or broken or something? I was hoping it would be, then I, then Daichi could . . .”

“Suga,” Asahi started, hand lifting to pat his shoulder, “I’m s--”

He didn’t get to finish because in an instant he heard Sawamura’s voice, calling from behind.

He jumped to his feet in alarm. There was no way Sawamura knew.

“Change of plans!” Sawamura shouted as he came to an abrupt stop a few feet in front of him. He was panting and his eyes were wide. He did not notice Suga’s form, sitting behind Asahi.

“I can’t ask him. Damn it, I cannot believe I missed my own countdown!” And here Sawamura held up his wrist, shaking it vigorously. “I slept right through it and I just noticed the stupid zeroes and, damn, Asahi I always thought I’d be happy about it but then the thing with Suga happened and we were finally about to," He stops to take a breath. "This is the worst timing ever. Damn it!”

Sawamura looked ready to kick something and he might have very well done so, until Suga made his presence known, standing up and starting to speak in a distraught voice, “You too, huh, this su--”

He didn’t get to finish because once they locked eyes it started. The twinkling chime went off, once, twice, in unison from both of their outstretched wrists.

They continued staring long after the noise had faded, as if they could hardly believe it. Asahi could hardly believe it himself, caught in the middle of it all, his eyes flicking back and forth between the two that were frozen like stone.

Then, in an instant, Suga broke the silence with a scream and tackled Sawamura who began blinking frantically in a vain attempt to hold back tears.

Not much happened afterward, aside from laughter and kissing and the repeated comment that they should’ve recorded it on camera because there was no way anyone would believe something like this happened in real life. It was an unbelievable coincidence. A story straight out of a rom-com movie.

At the time, Asahi remembered being so thrilled for both Sawamura and Suga. They had family gatherings to celebrate their union, talked about it to some friends, and even jokingly worked on a screenplay about it for a while. He was so caught up in the excitement that followed that he forgot to worry so much about his own still broken TiMER. That was until another birthday came and went, second year turned into third year, new first years replaced previous third years, and Asahi realized.

He was all alone.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sooo blown away by the feedback that I got from you all for that first chapter :O Thank you so much to those who've commented or left a kudo, it really lifted my spirits and made me try to get the next update out as soon as I could!
> 
> So I guess this is an alternate universe where Nishinoya and Asahi never had that fight that caused the two of them to leave the club? And also an AU where Karasuno doesn't so much have the "flightless crows" reputation as they do in the series? Because I realized I totally skipped over that after I wrote all this (so it's a good thing that this is an AU, haha).
> 
> As promised, the Asahi and Nishinoya interactions have officially begun. Hopefully you'll enjoy :)!

“You okay?” Sawamura asks him after practice in the clubroom.

Asahi tries for a normal sounding laugh, but hates how it comes out with a nervous edge.

“Fine,” he adds for extra measure as he pulls on his shirt. He brings up something he knows is also troubling his mind, “Just worried about the upcoming English exam.”

Sawamura looks at him, eyebrow arched. “You know you always do good on those exams.”

“I dunno.” Asahi says with a scratch at his chin. “I feel like this might be the one that brings down my average.”

“You say that every time.” Sawamura says with a sigh. “It’s hard to believe it now.”

“But Daichi, what if this is the one that ruins it this time. What if this is where the downward spiral in my grades begins?”

“No, no what ifs.” Sawamura flicks him on the forehead. “Just go study.”

“But,” Suga cuts in, appearing on Asahi’s left side. “If you’re really worried, you know you can always come to me to talk off the nerves. Or with questions. I’m pretty good at English.”

Asahi gives a grateful smile, “Thanks Suga.”

“Suga,” Sawamura huffs. “You are way too easy on him! How is he gonna gain self confidence if you indulge him like that?”

Suga crosses his arms, “And you can’t just shut down the conversation like that. ‘No what ifs’? Come on Daichi, is that how you’re gonna treat our kids?”

“N-no!” Sawamura blushes at the statement before countering, “And, anyway, Asahi is not our kid!”

“It’s all in the practice.” Suga teases and Asahi can’t help laughing at this point, hand coming up to cover his mouth. This earns him a shove from Sawamura before he decides to go after Suga with threatening hands to his sides.

After, Sawamura drags Asahi to come along with him and Suga to get food. Between eating and conversations about volleyball strategies, the earlier incidence of Asahi’s distraction during practice is entirely forgotten.

\

Asahi shows up early for practice the next day. It’s a rarity, since he prefers sleeping in as much as the next guy, but he had the keys, and he was feeling all out of sorts lately. Starting a daily routine extra early just might help to clear his head.

Earlier, restlessly shifting around in bed, it sounded like it would be the answer. Although now, tossing up ball after ball to serve, it only feels like his focus is slipping with each hit.

When the last ball leaves a mark just outside the baseline, that confirms it.

Asahi lets out a frustrated noise at this, which echoes loudly in the gym and startles him for a moment. Calming down, he goes off to recollect the volleyballs on the other side of the net.

‘Should’ve tried to sleep in more,’ he thinks as he picks up the last ball he threw. He looks at it as he turns it over in his hand, causing his eye to once again catch on the source of the problem on his inner wrist. The problem that had not been a problem until two weeks ago.

He’d been sitting around with classmates and they were all taking turns showing their countdowns. They were all taken aback by his dashes, a reaction he was used to, and he went onto his immediate explanation about how it was okay because his friend Sawamura also had one. And then promptly realized his mistake.

An easy mistake to make since he hadn’t been asked about his own TiMER since before Sawamura and Suga got together. Sure, yeah, he’d been aware of the fact that he and Sawamura were no longer the only malfunctioning TiMER pair for a while now but, for some reason, saying it aloud, correcting himself aloud, somehow made the situation of being alone real.

Much more real.

He takes a deep breath as he tries to remind himself for the thousandth time that there has to be others out there who don’t have their countdowns started yet. Just because he can’t see them doesn’t mean that they don’t exist. Besides, there was no reason to believe that he would be one of the few whose countdown would never start. It has to one day. It has to.

Asahi’s thinking so hard that he doesn’t even notice the sound of footsteps squeaking on the linoleum flooring behind him. It’s the sound of a voice that snaps him out of it. He flips his wrist, pretending to glance at the watch he has on, before turning around.

“Nishinoya,” he greets awkwardly. “Hey.”

“So it is you,” Nishinoya says back. “Weird. I’ve never seen you come in this early for practice before.”

“It’s not that weird.” Asahi counters, fumbling with the ball in his hand.

“It’s a little weird.” Nishinoya says, hands coming to rest on his hips. He cocks his head, holding Asahi’s gaze, seemingly examining him for something.

Asahi doesn’t like the pressure of the silence. “W-what?”

“Nothing.” Nishinoya says, walking over and beginning to pick up the rest of the volleyballs that are strewn around. “ ‘S just that you’ve been spacing out lately. Not good when we have a practice match coming up.”

“That’s why I’m here early.” Asahi replies as he moves to helps in recollecting.

Nishinoya hums in response, tossing a ball into the cart across the room. He picks up another, dribbling it a few times and then stops. There's a short pause before Asahi hears him give a huff a breath, “You know, we’re here to talk to you, if you need anything. The whole team. Me.”

Asahi’s fingers twitch against the ball he’s holding. He looks up, watching as Nishinoya’s back extends as he leans forward, volleyball flying through the air out of his open fingers.

For a moment, he almost gives in. Almost opens his mouth to spill out the thoughts he’s been keeping to himself for nights, the secret worries he’s been carrying with him since he was fourteen.

But then the ball hits the cart, and Nishinoya’s right hand falls to his side, the black band across his wrist becoming visible. The band he knows hides his TiMER beneath. The TiMER that works just like everyone else’s, numbers changing, counting. The evidence that there is a One for him out there in this world.

Nishinoya wouldn’t understand. No one like him ever would.

He sighs, throwing his own volleyball into the cart. “I know.”

\

The day of the practice match arrives three days later.

It’s against some small neighboring school, a good way to test out their current strategy and line-up. A valuable match to see what they need to improve on before the Inter-High that’s coming up in a few months. And Asahi totally blows it.

Well, it’s not just him that’s making everything a mess and, thank goodness, because he’s not sure he could handle that much guilt. Those two couple of first years, Kageyama and Hinata, have not  reached the level of cooperation that they need to be at. There’s much scuffling and sarcastic remarks, which ends up rubbing off on other players like Tsukishima, leaving him less than enthusiastic about the game. This ends up worrying Yamaguchi, effectively snatching away his attention. Tanaka and Nishinoya end up being the only one in focus but, with more than half of their team being preoccupied, it only gets them so far.

Sawamura saves them from being pathetically crushed one fourth of the way through by yelling them into line. Even after that though, their play is still shaky. It’s just a shoddy day for everyone and Asahi could’ve gotten away with the excuse that he wasn’t feeling it like the rest of the first years, if it wasn’t so obvious that he was the one making the most stupid mistakes the second set in.

He could feel Nishinoya’s angry gaze burning into the back of his skull.

Predictably, right after the practice match, Nishinoya corners him once the others go off to change in the clubroom. “What the heck, Asahi?”

Asahi exhales, definitely not in the mood to deal with Nishinoya’s yelling. “It was just a bad day, okay.”

“Don’t give me that, we both know it was more than just “a bad day”.” Nishinoya’s arms are crossed and his entire demeanor demands answers that Asahi is not willing to give.

Asahi stubbornly stands silent, frowning and bringing his arms to fold across his chest as well.

Nishinoya throws his hands up in response, “I cannot believe this. I gave you three days, three days to take your time in going to talk to anyone and you still-- don’t you know of the consequences of keeping things bottled up inside?”

“Who says anything about me having anything to keep bottled up?”

Nishinoya glares at him. “Oh, we are not doing this. We are going to talk, right now. Meet me at the front of the school once you’re changed.”

Asahi sighs, unfolding his arms, “Nishinoya, there is nothing to talk abou--”

“I’ve talked to Suga.”

Asahi’s mouth snaps shut, eyes widening at this.

Nishinoya looks somewhere off to the side, his mouth drawn in a thin line. “He told me about how, you used to talk to Daichi about . . . things. But that lately you’ve been withdrawn and it probably has to do with the fact that Daichi’s . . . zeroed out. Already.”

He refuses to comment on that, feeling upset that Suga would ever tell someone like Nishinoya about this. Really?

He trusted both Suga and Daichi with this information and Suga had to go off and tell one of the only second years that ever looked up to him. Not that there was much too look up to, but Asahi treasured whatever image was left that Nishinoya was able to see. And now, now, Suga just gave away something else away that put a big chink in that image, and Nishinoya is going to start seeing how pathetic he truly is.

“I don’t like seeing you all wrapped up in your own head like this,” Nishinoya adds then, “to the point where you’re playing awful and walking around like you’re not really here. So. We’re going to talk.”

Asahi looks at the floor below his feet and gives the smallest, dejected nod.

\

He lets Nishinoya drag him to a local fast food chain.

Nishinoya talks about a bunch of random things from grades to volleyball to crime drama shows. Probably trying to be considerate and get him comfortable to open up about stuff.

It’s nice of him, but Asahi doesn’t feel any more at ease about talking than when Nishinoya cornered him in the gym. How can he? He’s only ever opened up to Sawamura and Suga about it, and that was after he got to know them as people, get close enough with them to feel like they could get it. He and Nishinoya have barely spent time together outside of club. It’s not like he can make himself comfortable in just a couple of minutes.

Nishinoya seems to sense this nervous unease, leaning across the table to break the lengthy silence, “You know it’s okay, right? To have a broken clock.”

Asahi flushes at this. Wow, being consoled by an underclassman. He’s reached a new low.

“I know,” he says, fumbling with the wrapping of his uneaten sandwich.

“Everyone’s different.” Nishinoya adds.

“I know.”

“So no one’s going to think less of you for it.”

“I _know_ ,” Asahi snaps, frustrated, bringing his hands to his head. Like this isn’t everything he’s already heard before. Hearing it again doesn’t make him feel any better. He adds, “It doesn’t matter anymore if anyone wants to judge me for it. At this point, I don’t care what people think.”

“Well, that’s good.” Nishinoya nods, leaning back and bringing a chip to his mouth. “You shouldn’t.”

Asahi sighs, eyes falling to a corner of the table. He can only think of how much he doesn’t want to be doing this right now.

“So, if that’s your mentality you should stop thinking about it so much then.” Nishinoya says simply. “No one else thinks you’re weird or whatever for not having numbers. No one cares.”

Asahi breaths hard out of his nostrils before snapping, “It’s not an everyone else thing, Nishinoya. It’s a me thing! _I_ care!”

Nishinoya’s hands are folded over each other on the table then, his body leaning forward with something determined in his eyes. “Then tell me, Asahi. Tell me what bothers you.”

Asahi clutches hard to the table, the words simmering under his skin. ‘You don’t know how much I don’t want to be alone. It’s fucking scary and it keeps me up at night and I cry about it every so often because literally everyone around me is getting paired off. What have I done wrong to not know? What have I done wrong to be by myself?’

He bites his lips, eyes stinging. He can’t do this, he can’t do this with someone he equally admires and oh man, this is terrible, he’s going to cry in front of him in public over something that he would probably consider so dumb. It’s only been three years, Nishinoya would tell him, you shouldn’t be freaking out about it so much. That doesn't matter though, the thought of it's only been three years doesn't matter when every day drags on with the knowledge that he has no connection to anyone else in this world.

“ ‘m sorry.” Asahi says then, voice wavering. He has to leave now, now before the tears coming and they don’t stop. He jumps out of his seat, gathering his belongings. “I have to go.”

“Wait,” Nishinoya calls after him, but Asahi walks fast and is quick to lose him in the busy evening crowd.

\

Sometime later, after he's freshly showered and wallowed in bed, he gets a text.

He's not in the mood to answer, but his hands move to pick it up on instinct. Before he knows it, he's glancing at the message. It's from Suga and he asks, 'Did you and Nishinoya talk already?'

Nausea growing in his stomach, Asahi responds. 'Why did you tell him about the TiMER thing.'

'We were worried about you, Asahi. Both me and Daichi. You’re not talking much anymore.'

'Yeah, but Nishinoya of all people?' He presses on the keys harshly, feeling his face heat in embarrassment.

'He was insistent. And then I thought he could offer the best advice about the whole situation.’

Asahi’s taken aback by the words on his screen, bewildered.

Suga thought Nishinoya could offer the best advice? In what realm of reality was he living? Hadn’t Asahi told him and Sawamura multiple times already about how he felt this distance between himself and the normals who had working TiMERs? They’d try to console him and take his mind off of it, but they had no idea. They wouldn’t be able to possibly comprehend life without a countdown and somehow, somehow Nishinoya was an exception just because he was insistent?

A burning, knotting sensation was settling low in his gut. He grits his teeth behind closed lips, typing out. ‘Yeah, well, he didn’t. So thanks.’

Asahi throws his phone across the bed and buries his head in his hands.

\

The next day is a Saturday, a half day that Asahi is extremely thankful for because he needs the Sunday of no school to recuperate from the disaster that was the previous day. He needs to go home, sleep, and do nothing but watch mindless television to forget it all. He’s on his way to doing just that when Nishinoya appears.

Asahi does a double take upon seeing him dressed at the top of the staircase because he swore he’d seen him leave the clubroom earlier with the rest of the second years. Except it looks like he’d only left to wait for Asahi outside since, well, there he is.

‘Shoot,’ Asahi thinks, before spinning on his feet and making his way around to the other staircase across the landing. He skips down two steps at a time, determined to evade this confrontation. Out of the corner of his eye, Asahi sees Nishinoya making a break for it down the other staircase and is quick to cover the distance between them once they both hit the ground floor. Asahi picks up the pace.

“Really,” Nishinoya calls after him, sneakers thumping on the pavement behind him. “You’re going to outrun me? That’s cowardly.”

“Well, we’ve already established that’s what I am.” Asahi calls over his shoulder, gaining traction.

“Asahi, idiot, the proper response to that is to say “but I’m not”!” Nishinoya continues in his pursuit undeterred. The two of them blow right past the front gate. “Now will you stop running!”

“If you promise to leave me alone!”

“That’s not possible!”

Asahi skids to a stop against his own will, narrowly avoiding racing straight into moving traffic. Darn it.

Nishinoya takes that opportunity to collide straight into him, using his forward momentum to send them tumbling into the patch of grass behind him. Stunned, Asahi blinks up at the sky above him before Nishinoya’s face comes into view, staring down at him. “Geez, Suga wasn’t kidding when he said that you’d try to avoid talking with anyone you considered normal. That’s not healthy you know, shutting people out because they’re not like you.”

Asahi’s face hardens. “You know what, can you just forget everything Suga told you because I know he was trying to help, thinking you could talk to me about stuff, but he made a mistake. Okay, I’m going to go home now.”

Nishinoya sits atop his midsection before he can get up, bag and all, effectively pinning him in place. He breathes out hard through his nostrils. “God. You are frickin’ impossible sometimes. I was going to work around this because I don’t really like the idea of telling another person about it but okay. Fine.” And here Nishinoya shoves his right hand sleeve up, revealing the black band that covers his TiMER. “We’ll do it your way.”

He rips it off and shoves his wrist in Asahi’s face. His light skinned, smooth, TiMERless wrist.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So classes at my university are starting up soon so I wanted to get another chapter out before things got too crazy. Updates may come a lot slower once the school starts, unfortunately, but the next part is finally here.
> 
> Again, thanks so much for those of you who've left more kudos and comments, I really appreciate it! Hopefully, I will be able to get back to you all again soon!

“What?” Asahi exclaims, sitting up and nearly bashing their heads together. “You, but, how? I’ve heard the first years talk about how you’ve got ten years on your countdown! You’ve talked to Tanaka and Ennoshita about it too!”

Nishinoya slides the elastic band back in place. “Exactly, I’ve talked about it. Sometimes that’s enough just for other people to believe that you have one.”

“But why?” Asahi shouts, exasperated. “Why would you lie about having one?”

Nishinoya meets his gaze, putting an index finger to his lips. “Come on,” he gets to his feet then, offering a hand to lift him up. “Let’s go somewhere else.”

Nishinoya leads the way to a nearby park, the two of them walking around until they settle upon a spot on the side of a grassy clearing. Other people are around, engaging in various activities, but they are far enough away that no one will be able to hear the conversation.

“I always thought you were just one of those private types.” Asahi says then, fumbling with the sleeves of his jacket. “That’s why you wore the band and all, ‘cause you didn’t want everyone you meet to be concerned about your countdown.”

“That’s the idea.” Nishinoya nods at the band. “One look at it and people think ‘oh, he doesn’t like sharing personal things’, so they skip over the topic and we move on. Never have to talk about it with anyone, unless I bring it up.”

Asahi frowns at him, “But you’re lying.”

“Because I don’t want _one_.”

Asahi reels back, eyes widening. He, what?

“Mhm,” Nishinoya hums, pointing at him. “And that’s the exact kind of reaction I’d have to deal with for the rest of my life if I just told the truth. You’re probably thinking are you crazy? Who doesn’t want one? Don’t you want happiness and security in your life? Ecetera, ecetera, right?”

Asahi’s eyes shift to the side, admitting, “Yes . . .”

“And if I hadn’t spoken, you’d probably have asked me all those things, right?”

“ . . . yes.”

“And then after I answered them, you’d start telling me about everyone else you know who has TiMERs and how nice those things worked for them. Listing the benefits, slipping in facts, and that’s probably all I’d hear from you every now and then. Even if I keep insisting that I don’t want one you’d be trying to get me to want one.” Nishinoya turns to him with a raised eyebrow. “Right?”

Asahi blinks, forehead wrinkling. He’s not quite sure about the rest of that. Would he? He responds slowly, “I don’t . . . know?”

Nishinoya offers him a wry smile, “At least that’s what most people with TiMERs do anyway.”

“Do they?” Asahi asks, folding his hands in his lap.

“Yeah, that was the problem for me all throughout junior high.” Nishinoya explains. “Although, my brother tells me it never goes away when you get older. He dealt with the pestering for far longer than I did.”

“Your brother doesn’t have one either?”

“Nope.”

“So,” Asahi says then, “You lie about having a TiMER so that people don’t convince you to get one?”

“Because I can’t be convinced.” Nishinoya clarifies, wagging his index finger. “People think they can convince me but they can’t. I have my mind made up. That’s what everyone else doesn’t get.”

“Uhm,” Asahi shifts in place a bit before daring to ask, “So why don’t you, why don’t you want a TiMER?”

Nishinoya looks at him, dubious. “You promise you’re gonna listen though?”

Asahi nods.

“No interruptions or comments where you try to sell me the TiMER?”

“I’ll, I’ll try.”

Nishinoya rubs his hands together. “Well that’s good enough I suppose. Okay, well, it may be surprising to hear but my parents don’t have TiMERs. A lot of people want to ask, well, if your parents don’t have TiMERs, then how in the world did they know if they were each other’s soulmates? And the truth is, they don’t.”

Asahi can’t help the intake of breath. They didn’t know if they were soulmates and they started a life _together_. That’s almost unheard of.

“They don’t know just like everyone else didn’t in the time before TiMERs existed.” Nishinoya continues, pulling at the grass. “Nowadays everyone would say that’s too risky, there’s a whole bunch of insecurity because they don’t know if they are truly compatible. There’d be the risk of the marriage falling apart. But, you know what, they’ve been together for over twenty five years and they are happy.”

Nishinoya pauses, leaning back to look at the sky. “They didn’t find each other with TiMERs, they didn’t need to. And I think that’s pretty cool you know, following your heart and stuff. I mean, yeah we have TiMERs now that beep when they find the person you’re compatible with and there’s this rush of elation or what have you when you lay your eyes on that person for the first time--but I don’t know.”

“My mother used to tell me about how when she met my father, how she didn’t ever think she was going to marry him. They just hung out a lot and he took her out on dates like other guys she met, but then there was this one time, walking out of the movies, he kissed her and she said she just felt it. She knew inside that he was the one. And I think. I kind of want to feel that. Too.”

“Anyway,” Nishinoya’s cheeks are flushed as he looks back at him, waving the idea off with a hand as if it was no big deal. “The cool thing is that I could be talking to my future partner at any time! And I wouldn’t know it! It’s kind of exciting.”

“But you would know if someone had a TiMER with a countdown though.” Asahi can’t help inputting.

Nishinoya sighs, “Yeah, the TiMERs take a lot of the fun out of it. But practically everyone has one nowadays, can’t help that.”

“And, despite that, you’re still determined to find your . . . potential on your own. In a world of people with TiMERs?”

“Some people are still able to do it. And I’m willing to try.” Nishinoya stretches his arms over his head.

Whoah. Asahi thinks, looking at his teammate in astonishment. Talk about going against the odds.

“So, okay, I told you my story, what about you?” Nishinoya nudges him in the side with an elbow.

“Uh, not much to tell.” Asahi offers a shrug. “Got my TiMER when I was fourteen. It hasn’t been working ever since.”

“And by not working, you mean no countdown.”

“Yeah.”

“And you’ve been wanting a countdown ever since?”

“How’d you--”

“You check your clock a lot.” Nishinoya says. “Now, more often than before.”

He twists his fingers in his sleeve, “Is it that obvious?”

“No one checks for the time under their wrist. I know you wear a sports watch, but it’s pretty obvious you’re not looking at that when your wrist is upside down.”

Asahi feels heat crawling up his neck. He lowers his head, mumbling, “I’m so lame, aren’t I?”

“Not lame, you just worry a lot more than you need to.” Nishinoya clicks his tongue. “Asahi, have you ever heard of the expression ‘a watched pot never boils’? I think you should do less of that. The watching thing and maybe you’ll feel better about it.”

Asahi lets out a long drawn out breath, “That’s much easier said than done.”

“Not really.” Nishinoya says, “Not if you have a lot of activities taking up your spare time to take your mind off of it. Okay, so tell me, what are your hobbies? Aside from volleyball.”

“Uhhhh,” Asahi scratches at his chin. “I uhm, read? And then sometimes watch television, but not a lot. So I guess that doesn’t count.” He takes a moment to pause here, considering more options. Nothing else comes to mind. “Yeah, uhm, I think that’s it. Reading, yeah.”

Nishinoya looks at him nonplussed. “That’s it?”

“Volleyball and homework take up a lot of time!”

“Well, it's not enough if you’ve still got time to think about your TiMER so much!”

“It’s hard not to think about it whenever I have downtime at home!”

Nishinoya snaps his fingers, “Ah, maybe that’s it then! Do you go out a lot, Asahi?”

Asahi’s gaze drifts to the side, “Sometimes Daichi and Suga invite me places but I tend to turn it down because of homework . . .”

“Homework cannot seriously take up that much of your time.”

“Maybe if you actually did yours you’d understand.” Asahi mumbles and then stiffens, hoping that he did not say that outloud. Glancing quickly to his right though, he catches Nishinoya looking up at him, mouth agape, which confirms that he just did.

Nishinoya’s mouth snaps shut before asking, “Did you just give me lip?”

“I’m sorry!” He blurts out immediately, hands coming to clasp together tightly in his lap. “That was supposed to stay in my head.”

Nishinoya laughs, smacking his shoulder. “I’m not mad! I just didn’t know you had it in you!”

Asahi smiles in response, comforted enough by his laughter to add in almost shyly, “Yeah, that’s the mistake they tend to make against us quiet types.”

“Yeah, I see that now.” Nishinoya gives a final chuckle, the conversation tapering off into silence for a second before he remembers. “Right, you need to go out more. Make time for it somehow.”

Asahi gives a sigh. “I guess, I can.” He says, knowing that he definitely can if he stopped giving into distractions and gave himself a set schedule.

“Great, now give me your number so we can plan a day to go to the movies or something.”

“Wait, what?” Asahi’s head turns fast to face him.

Nishinoya holds a hand out, his phone dangling loosely in its grip. “What? You can make plans to go out with Suga and Daichi, but I can be your third contact. So that way it’s triple the coverage! The more people, the more chances you’ll have someone to hangout with.”

“Huh . . .” Asahi says in response, contemplating this. He’s always liked Nishinoya as a person, enjoying his energy both on and off the court, but never in a million years did he think that Nishinoya would want to have contact with him outside of club. He’s imagined it before, entertained the idea of a possible friendship the same way he has with other acquaintances. However, being presented with the opportunity is something else altogether. It’s kind of unbelievable.

He takes the phone from Nishinoya’s hand and carefully types his contact info in. The entire time he side eyes the other boy, as if expecting him to change his mind on the matter. Asahi surely isn’t as cool as the other friends Nishinoya hangs out with. Either Nishinoya knows this or has no qualms about it because he patiently sits, waiting until Asahi hands him back the phone.

“Neat!” Nishinoya says then, sending off a text to make sure he has the right number. His eyes light up when he sees Asahi’s phone go off, screen brightening with his ‘hello’ text as Asahi pulls it out of his pocket.

“Got it.” Asahi confirms, sending back his own ‘hello’ with a giddiness he is sure must show on his face.

When he looks up, he forgets to be embarrassed as Nishinoya is grinning up at him brightly, eyes glinting. It makes him feel warm all over, and he lowers his phone before asking, “So, what day were you thinking?”

\

On Monday, Asahi asks Suga if it’s alright for him to tag along with him and Sawamura after practice. Suga seems pleasantly surprised at this. “Yeah, of course!” He agrees, clapping his hands together.

Sawamura comes up behind him, “What’s this, Asahi wants to take off time from his homework for once?”

“Daichi,” Asahi slouches, eyes shifting. “I did most of it yesterday.”

“Sure you did.” Sawamura says in response, eyeing him with a grin and Asahi knows that he can see right through him. Thankfully, he doesn’t prod and immediately after practice the three of them set off to the nearest sports shop.

It’s there that they browse the racks, admiring all the expensive activewear before heading on over to shoes.

“I keep telling him he doesn’t need another pair, but he kept insisting.” Suga grumbles to Asahi, but the slight smile on his face betrays his supposed upset demeanor.

“Guys, look at this,” Sawamura exclaims from the other end of the shelves. “The Dominion model comes in two shades!”

“Isn’t that one of the more costly ones?” Suga inquires while walking over. Asahi follows.

“They do look nice though.” Asahi can’t help commenting, admiring the polished synthetic leather.

“I think I’m gonna get it.” Sawamura says, cradling the shoe in his palm.

“Daichi,” Suga folds his arms across his chest, “At least try them on first to make sure they fit right.”

“Okay, okay.”

Suga and Asahi help him look for his size, but upon finding none on the shelves, send him off to go find a sales associate.

As Asahi waits with Suga, the two of them nonchalantly roaming the isle, the thought hits him. “Oh, right, Suga.”

The other looks up from a price tag he’d been examining. “Hmm?”

“Thanks.” Asahi says, fingers coming to grip at the bag over his shoulder. “For considering Nishinoya about, y’know. I’m sorry for getting mad at you over text earlier. It turns out I didn’t know the whole story.”

Suga’s eyes widen, “Oh, he tried to work around telling you too?”

“He didn’t want to tell me at the beginning. But then I refused to listen because, well, you know about that too.” Asahi confesses, feeling heat flush to his cheeks.

Suga nods, “He didn’t want to tell me either, at first. He was worried about you and he was insistent to know what was up, but I didn’t want to say anything because you trusted Daichi and I so much with everything you told us. And I knew you wouldn’t want an outsider to be brought into this. But I was worried too, since you weren’t talking to us too much anymore.”

Suga pauses to recollect himself. “I wasn’t planning on saying anything. Honestly. But then he cornered me after practice and showed me his arm and everything just came out, because I thought maybe he could understand the whole thing better than any of us right now. Life without a TiMER, there has got to be a different set of ideas there that lets him get through the days. Something he could maybe, pass down to you.”

Asahi thinks about the way Nishinoya looks at the situation of not knowing when you’d ever meet your soulmate. It’s kind of exciting, he’d said. Asahi’s not sure he’d ever consider his circumstance ‘exciting’.

“Ah, maybe.” He replies, fingers fumbling around the strap.

“I should still apologize for telling Nishinoya about you.” Suga says, hands coming to clasp at his front. “It wasn’t right of me to assume you’d be okay with it. Your message made me see that. I won’t do it again.”

“Oh thanks, Suga.” Asahi says, touched at the gesture. “But it is okay now though, really. It all worked out. Nishinoya was nice and we’re going to meet up this week.”

“Really?” Suga cheers up at this. “That’s great, I’m glad you’re making an effort to get out more, Asahi. Studying for that long at home can’t have been too good.”

“It did get me all those passing marks though.” Asahi reminds him with a grin.

“But at what cost to your poor overworked brain?” Suga says, poking at his forehead with an index finger.

Sawamura comes bounding around the corner, a shoebox in hand. “They fit perfect! Suga, I’m getting them!”

“Daichi, how much?”

Sawamura points to the price on the box. The expensive price.

“Daichi, no!”

“Suga, yes!”

Asahi laughs.

“Asahi, help me remind Daichi that he has plenty of other shoes.” Suga says, trying to wrangle the box out from Sawamura’s grasp.

“Asahi,” Sawamura turns to face him too, “Tell Suga how cool these shoes are and how much I need them.”

“Suga, the shoes are really cool and Daichi really needs them.” Asahi says, shaking Sawamura’s shoulders as he nods vigorously.

“Asahi, you traitor!”

\

They meet up for a movie as planned.

“Asahi, hey,” Nishinoya calls out to him from the crowd in the plaza.

Asahi turns to meet him, getting up from one of the concrete benches that he’d been sitting on. “Hi,” he says back.

“Whoah,” Nishinoya says, reaching forward to tug on the beige fabric of his sleeve. “You really are a sweater type of guy.”

“Uh, cardigan actually.” Asahi corrects, adjusting the cuffs. “But, yeah, a type of sweater. Sweater-like. Yeah.”

‘Way to sound totally uncool, Asahi,’ a voice in his head criticizes. ‘Everyone loves learning new sweater terminology.’

“I like your jacket.” Asahi says then, determined to re-direct the conversation away from his clothes.

“Thanks.” Nishinoya says, popping the collar. “I’m actually thinking of getting a leather one soon. It’d be super awesome, right? Think I could pull it off?”

“You? I think so.” Asahi says. Nishinoya has the personality. He can definitely see it.

“Yeah, I guess,” Nishinoya responds with a shrug, “I’ve always liked the idea of a biker look. But then I thought I’d look dumb, y’know, without an actual motorcycle.”

“No, no, you should still do it.” Asahi says, “You’d look really cool with or without a motorcycle, Nishinoya.”

Nishinoya looks up at him, flashing a grin, “Thanks, Asahi.”

Asahi fiddles with his sleeves, eyes falling away. It doesn’t help to hide the smile tugging at the corners of his lips. “It’s just the truth.”

“C’mon,” Nishinoya latches onto his arm then, pulling forward. “We should get going, wouldn’t want to get the seats all the way at the front.”

“Yes,” Asahi agrees as the two of them set off to find the cinema.

They end up passing the cinema in the outdoor shopping center on accident, the two of them so distracted in making conversation. Nishinoya’s explaining all the highlights of the center, talking animatedly about the time he and Tanaka chased down a gelato cart, when they hit a crosswalk.

“Wait.” Nishinoya stops them right before they cross, suddenly realizing, “Oh my god, we walked right past it. I can’t believe.” He spins on his heel and yanks his hand, “This way, Asahi, this way!”

Asahi nearly trips on his own feet, stumbling into a run after him. “Whoa, okay, how far did we walk past it?”

They end up getting there at too late of a time. The movie has already started and the seats are all sold out.

“Ah, we should’ve chosen a less popular film.” Asahi remarks, shoving his hands in his pockets.

“Gah, I messed it all up for us. I’m sorry!” Nishinoya apologizes.

“Don’t be,” Asahi turns to assure him with a small smile. “It might’ve turned out that there weren’t tickets available even if we showed up earlier.”

“Yeah, still sucks though.” Nishinoya heaves a sigh. He seems bummed out that their outing isn’t going as planned. Asahi didn’t think he’d be the type. Then again he didn’t think Nishinoya was the non-TiMER wearing type, so that shows how much he knows.

“We could always go see the next movie that’s playing?” Asahi offers.

“Hmm,” Nishinoya perks up at this, “What’s the next one?”

The both of them turn their heads to read the display board above the ticket counter.

Asahi stifles a laugh into his palm as Nishinoya gasps, “Oh no, Asahi that’s, that’s a terrible sci-fi with terrible ratings!”

“Oh c’mon Nishinoya, it’s about space.” Asahi elbows him, “And it’s got intergalactic romance. What can go wrong?”

“Everything.” Nishinoya says before huffing a laugh, “I can’t believe you’re making me do this.”

He goes to approach a ticket window as Asahi replies with a grin, “I’m not making you do anything.”

“You suggested it, Asahi!”

And that’s how they ended up watching an two hour science fiction film with some sort of weird love triangle going on, some concept of reincarnation, that was overall very, very confusing.

The best part though was that they got the small theater to themselves and were free to make any comments they pleased. It made for some great laughs and Asahi remembers, more than once, almost choking on his drink.

“Nishinoya, stop,” he remembers crying out after the second time, coughing through his laughter.

“What again?” Nishinoya laughs, throwing his head back. “Geez, stop trying to take a drink when I’m telling a joke!”

“Stop trying to,” Asahi pauses to catch his breath, “tell a joke when I’m drinking.”

Nishinoya laughs again and Asahi is enraptured by it, the light in his eyes along with the sound of his voice. He thinks, for sure, Nishinoya looks best when he’s smiling and he feels elation at knowing that he helped bring that expression to his face.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hooray, I got to update! Sorry for taking so long to get back to you all, this semester is turning out to be not so amazing. My workload is too crazy rn, so I can't say for sure when the next update will be able to come around after this. Hopefully, not too far away!
> 
> Anyway, thank you all to continue to read and comment! You all make me smile, really. I'm glad my writing is being found to be enjoyable :']  
> Hope you like the next chapter!

They are at practice when Hinata and Kageyama start fighting. Again.

“Alright, break it up! Break it up!” Sawamura puts himself between them, splitting them up by assigning them to opposing sides of the gym.

“My receives are getting better.” Asahi hears Hinata mutter under his breath as he crosses in front of him to snatch up a spare ball from the carts.

The group of them at the baseline take turns hitting serves until a whistle sounds, indicating for them to take five. They all gather up to stretch in a corner and, in the middle of this cool down, Hinata gives a long exhale before exclaiming, “Why does someone like _that_ have to be my soulmate? It’s terrible!”

‘At least you have someone.’ Asahi catches himself thinking with a bitterness, scratching at the label of his water bottle.

“Hey, hey,” and here Nishinoya slides in, sitting next to the other boy. “You already talked about this with Daichi. You don’t have to like him like that, remember? At least not right now.”

“I don’t want to like him like that.” Hinata says, staring at the floor with a burning intensity. “Ever.”

“So, then you don’t have to.”

“But I do,” Hinata exclaims, waving his zeroed out wrist. “The TiMER chimed when we met! So we’re soulmates. He’s it. The One. Which is terrible! Did I mention that? Because it is. Terrible.”

Nishinoya offers a shrug of the shoulders, resting a hand on Hinata’s shoulders, “Well, you never know what can happen in the future. Things might be different.”

Hinata looks at him with a frown. “That’s easy for you to say, Noya, you have ten years until you meet your One. And they’ll probably be everything you ever asked for. Unlike mine.”

“And mine.” Kageyama’s voice comes from the other crowd of teammates that pass in front of them.

Hinata opens his mouth to retaliate, until Sawamura steps in front of him with a “don’t even think about it” as Suga pulls a sour-faced Kageyama away. Nishinoya scoots out of the line of fire. Asahi doesn’t blame him, Sawamura’s glares could kill.

It’s then, as they get up to work on strength exercises, that Asahi wonders who else knows the truth about Nishinoya’s TiMER. Or non-existent TiMER, for that matter.

Obviously, it’s got to be few people. The more people who know, the better of a chance that someone will slip up and, as it is, no one has once even given a hint. Although, Asahi thinks, it couldn’t just be him and Suga in the loop. He can't see Nishinoya not telling Tanaka. Those two are close, even if Tanaka talks about Nishinoya’s false countdown along with the others.

Asahi decides to ask him as they’re walking after school. “Who else knows about your, uhm, TiMER thing now?”

Nishinoya looks up from the granola bar he’d been snacking on, “Uh, my family, of course. Then Tanaka. Now, Suga and you. Yeah, not a lot. Makes it easier.”

Asahi hums in acknowledgement. He figured as much.

“Does it ever,” Asahi pauses for a bit. “Does it ever bother you that you can’t tell the truth? Like, frustrate you that you can’t say what you really think.”

“About what?”

“About TiMERs.” Asahi says, “About how they might not work and stuff.”

“I never said that.” Nishinoya corrects him, and Asahi feels himself heat red for making the assumption.

Nishinoya continues before he can apologize, “I know they work. There’s plenty of scientific proof that they do. I just think it’s possible to find someone without them. Plus, not knowing who you’re going to end up with can make things better. Take Kageyama and Hinata for an example. Soulmate drama averted.”

Asahi considers this, “True.”

But there are benefits to knowing too, he thinks.

You don’t have to bother with dating several people to figure out who’s right. And, if your One turns out to be someone you don’t like, then you can work towards fixing that by trying to see things in them you may come to like.

Or at least Asahi would, if he were in Hinata’s position.

He fingers the device under his sleeve.

“Asahi,” Nishinoya sings, the tug on his sleeve drawing his attention. He’s looking up at him, eyebrows raised and lips pursed. “You’re not supposed to be worrying about TiMER stuff remember? We’re trying to get away from that.”

Asahi drops his hands to his sides, “Sorry, habit. We started talking about it and then I started thinking.”

“Hmmm,” Nishinoya looks away, tapping his chin before turning back to face him. “How about this, what’s your favorite ice cream flavor?”

“Huh,” Asahi is taken aback by the abrupt question for a second before responding, “Uhm, I guess, strawberry?”

“Great,” Nishinoya points with a thumb to a street down his shoulder. “I know a killer ice cream shop right down this way. You’re gonna love it.”

He turns to lead the way and Asahi follows, leaning closer to listen as he explains the variety of toppings.

\

Asahi learns things.

He learns something about Suga. He’d no idea about his passion towards pop music groups. Yes, he’d known that Suga liked pop music because he would sing while going over class notes, but he only recently discovers his deeper dedication.

“These guys are having a comeback in September,” Suga says, holding an album up for him to see at a music store. “Their main vocalist is killer, Asahi. His voice is deep and rich, like godsent honey.

“Godsent, that good?” Asahi says as Suga hands him the album. He flips it over to scan the tracklist.

“Yes, totally. You definitely need to give them a listen.” Suga says, and seems about to say more, only Sawamura’s voice cuts in from the front aisle. “Suga, I think BXOB’s new album came out!”

“Oh shoot, no way,” Suga cries out and Asahi grins as he watches him run around to meet Sawamura who holds the new release. Suga snatches it up and starts blabbering about their latest performance, ecstatic.

He learns something about Sawamura. He’s known Sawamura a while, so Asahi figured that he knew all there was to know. But that’s the thing about people, they’re always changing, and what Asahi learns next is his enthusiasm about online chess.

“I cannot believe he just checkmated me!” Sawamura exclaims from his slouch behind his laptop screen. “How did he do that?”

“We watched one documentary,” Suga says dryly from beside him in the dining booth they’re seated at. “One documentary on chess, and now he thinks it’s the coolest game ever invented and wants to be the reigning champ at it.”

“Hey, don’t act like you didn’t think it was cool too,” Sawamura cries out, folding the screen of his laptop down to better see them.

“Okay, okay,” Suga says, holding his palms up. “I admit, I thought it was cool too.”

“And,” Sawamura says, leaning over with a grin as he pokes Suga in the chest. “You also said you thought it’d be hot if your boyfriend was the king of chess.”

“Daichi!” Suga exclaims, cheeks flushing even as he fixes him with a glare. Asahi fails at holding back his laughter and Suga turns on him, trying but failing to be serious, “Asahi, stop laughing!”

And those are only the major discoveries.

Asahi begins to learn many little things about his two friends that he’d never taken the time to notice before. Suga’s preference for sugar free gum from vending machines, Sawamura’s nature to walk rather than take the train, Suga’s eye for the well dressed, Sawamura’s tendency to hover around shoe stores. He notes it all with fascination, along with the things that he begins to learn about Nishinoya.

He learns so many things about Nishinoya, things he would’ve never picked up from volleyball practice alone.

He learns about Nishinoya’s zeal for action flicks. The way his attention kicks up several notches as soon as a character on screen brandishes a weapon, the way he shakes at Asahi’s arm during an explosion.

“Did you see that, did you just see that, whoah!” He hisses at Asahi after particularly big CGI effects, jumping out of his seat.

He learns about Nishinoya’s daringness to try new things in everything he does.

“You’re going to fall!” Asahi exclaims while watching him try to balance himself on an outdoor stair railing. An outdoor stair railing that extends all the way down the incline of a hill, with more steps than he can count. One that Nishinoya also admits to never having slid on before.

Nishinoya looks over his shoulder at him, flashes a grin and lets go. Asahi holds a hand hard to his chest, trying not to scream as he goes sliding fast, faster. He lands at the end within seconds, jumping off and cheering, seemingly unaware of the danger he’d put himself in.

“Okay, it’s your turn, Asahi!” He calls up to him, a tiny speck at the bottom, and Asahi laughs, thinking that Nishinoya is truly out of his mind.

He learns about his interest in gaming, along with his preference in dragging other people around him to play.

“I don’t think I’m going to be very good at this.” Asahi admits, fumbling with the controller in his hand.

“Ah, you’ll be fine!” Tanaka assures him, standing beside him with his own controller ready. “Really you can just button mash in most of this game and you’ll still get through.”

Asahi looks down at the controller in his hand, the advice not reassuring him at all. “Uh, maybe you and Nishinoya should just play.”

“Oh c’mon, Asahi,” Nishinoya nudges at him. “The more the merrier!”

Nishinoya presses play before he can say anymore and Asahi is terrible, absolutely horrendous as he dies left and right, but the other boys don’t seem to mind. Nishinoya, in fact, seems to get a kick out of the challenge in guarding him and Tanaka takes it upon himself to teach Asahi the tricks to increasing health.

He learns that Nishinoya likes chocolate, anything with chocolate is something he’ll want to try. He learns that Nishinoya bites on his pencils when he’s doing homework. That Nishinoya always carries around a charger for his phone, that he wears t-shirts more than anything else, that he falls asleep in class more than he should, that he likes shades of red, that he hums when he’s bored.

Facts upon facts upon facts, so many piling high that at times it feels like his head is spinning with Nishinoya. And Asahi doesn’t mind. Not one bit.

\

It’s a while after they start hanging out that Asahi makes the offer.

It’s an impulse really, a last minute decision as they’re rolling the cart of volleyballs back into the supply closet. They’re throwing around ideas on where they should go after practice when Asahi blurts out, “We could always head over to my place.”

Nishinoya stops, the cart freezing with him.

Asahi maybe wants to bash his head into the doorframe because wow, why didn’t he consider that Nishinoya might be uncomfortable with that since he’s an upperclassman and, hello, it’s not like they are super close. Why didn’t he think?

“Wait, Asahi, you mean that?” Nishinoya says then, before he can retract his offer. He’s looking up at him, eyes wide, and as far as Asahi can tell, he doesn’t look upset. So he figures it’s safe not to totally take it back.

“Uhhh, yeah.” Asahi responds, fingers twisting in the hem of his shirt. “I mean, if you want. We don’t have to, of course. I’m fine with going anywhere.”

“No, oh man, I’d love to go to your place!” Nishinoya exclaims, rolling the cart back into motion to it’s proper location in the closet. “It’ll be awesome, you can give me like a mini-tour and everything.”

So that’s exactly what they end up doing. Well, the going over to the house part. Asahi doesn’t exactly get to give Nishinoya the mini-tour due to the fact that his parents are both home. His mother dominates the dining room with her books to renew her Matchmaker’s license and his father is busy making calls in the kitchen. He introduces Nishinoya to them, before the two of them make the trip upstairs.

“Whoah,” Nishinoya says as they head up, “Were those books on TiMER practices?”

Asahi gives a nod.

“I didn’t know your mother was a Matchmaker,” Nishinoya looks up at him with wide eyes.

“Yup,” Asahi says, stopping on the landing and waiting for him to catch up. “That’s her job.”

“Well, that explains why you can never get away from the TiMER thing at home.” Nishinoya says matter-of-factly, following Asahi down the corridor. Asahi gives a laugh, coming to a stop in front of his door.

“I’ve only been surrounded by it my entire life,” he adds with a grin before pulling it open.

He goes to set his things down, placing his bag in a corner and jacket over a chair. He hears Nishinoya’s feet patter behind him, coming to stop in the middle of the room.

Asahi turns to see him standing with his hands on his hips, surveying the room around him. His eyebrows furrow as he glances at the walls covered in simple framed paintings, the bare desk in the corner, the nightstand with his laptop.

In the end, Nishinoya gives a long drawn out whistle as he seats himself on the edge of Asahi’s bed. “Asahi, you are truly a man of mystery.”

“What?” Asahi’s perplexed. That is something he wouldn’t have thought Nishinoya would ever say to him.

“I mean, no crazy posters of anything up on your walls,” Nishinoya motions at them with a hand, “your room is incredibly clean and the only thing standing out to me right now is your laptop! It’s like, who are you?”

Asahi’s hand comes to scratch under his chin. “Uhm, a high school volleyball player with an immaculate room?”

Nishinoya rolls onto his stomach, hands flattening on the bed. “No, Asahi, what do you like to do? A person’s bedroom usually expresses that.”

“Oh, you mean hobbies.” Asahi carefully lowers himself to sit across from him, hands folding in his lap. “Well, like I told you, I like to read. And there’s my bookshelf to the right over there.”

“That cannot be the only thing you like to do.” Nishinoya fixes him with a stare.

“Yeah, it can!” Asahi argues. “Who made a rule saying that you have to have more than one hobby?”

“Asahi,” Nishinoya draws his name out long. “Come on, what else do you like to do?”

Asahi keeps his lips sealed, staring at some point over Nishinoya’s shoulder.

Nishinoya rolls his eyes, face breaking out into a grin as he squirms closer. He extends an arm, finger poking and trailing along his side. “Asahi,” he tries again.

He’s weak to the way Nishinoya sings his name and ticklish, so his impassive expression falls apart in seconds, a wide grin taking it’s place. “Okay, okay,” he relents, batting Nishinoya’s hand away with a chuckle. “It’s just, geez, it’s embarrassing.”

“Hey, you know I’m not going to judge.” Nishinoya puts his hands under his chin, looking up at him with a gentle smile. Asahi appreciates that about him, the way he’s so open to anything people throw at him without a sign of disgust ever crossing his face.

“Okay. Well sometimes, I watch really bad reality tv. Like unbelievably bad.” Asahi admits, scratching at the linen. “Like so bad you know they’ve hired actors and written a script for everything. But I don’t know, I find them on the internet and I end up marathoning whole seasons sometimes just because.”

“Oh god Asahi, that’s not so bad.” Nishinoya shakes his head. “Everyone comes across lame reality tv shows and let it run in the background sometimes.”

“But not everyone goes looking for it.” Asahi points out.

“So,” Nishinoya gives a shrug. “Not a big deal, just something you like to do. Okay, what else?”

“What do you mean what else?”

“What else do you like to do?”

“There’s nothing else,” Asahi says, maybe a little too quickly.

“Yes, there is.” Nishinoya says, “I can see it on your face.”

Asahi winces, hating his obvious tells. Nishinoya, thankfully, remains silent as he tries to sort this one out in himself. It’s not something big, at all, but it’s private. Something Asahi has kept to himself for so long because it means so much. The emotions and thoughts he puts behind it all have built up to such a high he hasn’t been able to bare the thought of showing it to anyone, for fear that they would tear him down.

Nishinoya seems to read the seriousness of it in his expression because Asahi hears him roll over as he says, “It’s okay. You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

Asahi’s eyes lift to gaze at him. Nishinoya’s fingers tap a rhythm against his chest, his eyebrows furrowing as he stares at the ceiling.

It’s strange. This is the one thing Asahi has told himself he’d only share with his One. Someone who would understand him and accept this part of Asahi, no matter how untalented he might be, because it’s something he loves to do. And yet Asahi feels compelled to tell Nishinoya, to open up to him.

There’s something in his gut, telling him that this will be alright.

Without a second thought, Asahi leans over and snatches up his laptop. Nishinoya’s head shifts, watching him, curious, as Asahi opens it up and logs on. The room is silent but for a few clicks as he locates what he is looking for.

“Here,” Asahi says, holding out his laptop. Nishinoya sits up and Asahi feels ridiculously like he’s handing over a piece of his very soul.

Nishinoya is silent as scrolls through the images. Meanwhile, Asahi sits across from him trying to look like he’s not seconds away from falling apart at the seams.

“Asahi?”

“Yeah?”

“Are these yours?” Nishinoya asks without taking his eyes off the screen.

“Yeah,” Asahi confirms, timid.

“You took these?” Nishinoya’s voice jumps up significant levels in volume.

“Yeah,” Asahi says, barely audible, fingers gripping hard at his knees as he braces himself for the crit to follow. Nishinoya’s got to think something of them after all.

“These photos are so good!” Asahi jumps at the sudden exclamation, Nishinoya looking up from the screen in his lap. “They’re super colorful and sharp! I feel like I could reach through the screen and touch things! Wow, what software do you use to edit these?”

“It’s a, uhm, combination of softwares actually.” Asahi says, “but the clarity, that’s mostly thanks to the camera I have.”

“Oh man, can I see it?”

Tucking a strand of hair behind his ear, Asahi nods before bending over and sliding out a box from under the bed. He removes the camera and presents it for Nishinoya to see.

“Holy shoot, you’re the real deal!” Nishinoya takes it and fingers the device, gentle. “This is, this is crazy, it has an actual lense sticking out and everything.”

“Well, it’s not top of the line or anything, but for now it works alright.” Asahi says with a shrug. He watches as Nishinoya turns on the device, flicking through the photos on the tiny screen. His eyes are wide, lips parted, and Asahi thinks he’s seeing it. The life behind his photos.

“Did you,” Asahi stops, starts again, “Did you really mean it?”

“About what?” Nishinoya says, pausing at one picture of a blackbird perched on a fence. It’s head is thrown back, beak open to the sky.

“That my photographs were good.” Asahi’s voice drops low again. “Honestly?”

Nishinoya looks up, meeting his eyes and holds his gaze steady. “Of course,” he says, face brightening with a small smile. “They’re great Asahi, you should definitely keep working on photographs.”

Asahi exhales loud and falls on his back against the mattress with a bounce. He covers his face with both hands.

Nishinoya laughs from beside him, “What happened to you?”

“Oh my god, Nishinoya,” he removes his hands and outstretches his arms on either side of him. “For the longest time I haven’t shown anyone my photos because I was afraid that I was terrible at it, but then I just showed you and you didn’t think they were god awful and I could die right now. I think.”

Asahi hears a click go off.

“Did you just take a picture of me?” Asahi removes his eyes from the ceiling to see Nishinoya grinning down at the camera, pleased with what he got.

“I thought it was appropriate. Pictures are meant to preserve memories right?” Nishinoya scoots over and shows him the photo on the display screen. “This is obviously a moment to remember.”

Asahi looks up at the photo of himself, loose-limbed on the bed with his head turned upward. His face looks stupid with relief, eyes crinkled and watery. All that because Nishinoya said five simple words.

He breaks out into laughter and turns his head into the side of Nishinoya’s leg. Nishinoya giggles with him, bending over to rest his forehead on the crown of Asahi’s head, and the camera rests in the cradle of his careful hands.


End file.
